


Aces

by xxawalkinwonderlandxx



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: And obviously she's attractive so of course Bellamy decides to go after her, Bellamy is a mob boss, Bellamy likes to play poker - illegal poker, Clarke doesn't know he's a mob boss, Clarke is a lawyer, F/M, I don't know how to tag this but will come back to it lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:27:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29964294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxawalkinwonderlandxx/pseuds/xxawalkinwonderlandxx
Summary: Clarke Griffin got offered a job in the big city of Arkadia and after a messy divorce from Finn Collins, she's intent on making a new life for herself-one that doesn't involve one-night stands and emotional attachments. She wants to focus on herself and making a good impression at one of the biggest law firms in the state. Except when she happens to see Bellamy Blake in a bar one night, she doesn't realize that her life will never be the same again. After all, she's a lawyer and she made a promise to her grandfather to uphold the law. Falling for a mob boss is the exact opposite of that promise.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	Aces

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, here's another wip :)
> 
> Do I know where this is going? No.  
> Does that really matter? Probably.  
> BUT one thing I do know is that there will be smut - keep that in mind! I'll change the rating when we get there

When Clarke stepped out of the airport the muggy air of the city hit her in a way she wasn’t expecting, her lungs feeling like they had to work overtime in order to keep her breathing properly. She followed the driver she ordered to the car and the man took the bags from her as she slid into the backseat.

 _Get to the apartment, unpack, call Maya, pack the papers, order groceries_ …

She ran through all of the things she would have to do once she got to her new place and didn’t fully register when the driver got behind the wheel and pulled out of the parking spot. The sun was beginning to disappear behind the hundreds of buildings littering the city, and Clarke could feel the jetlag taking hold of her.

While the plane ride wasn’t that long, or uncomfortable, the stress with moving was different than what she was used to.

_I’ll call my mom as soon as I get into the apartment._

“Are you hungry, Ms. Griffin?” The driver, Niles asked, and Clarke pulled her attention away from the view outside the window and looked at him through the rearview mirror.

“If it’s not too much trouble I would love McDonald’s,” she said softly, and Niles smiled at her.

“Of course, Ms. Griffin. It’s no trouble at all.”

 _Thank God_. She nodded and settled back into the seat, letting her head lull to the side as she looked out at the twinkling city. _Am I ever going to get used to being called that again?_

Ms. Griffin. Not Mrs. Collins.

Clarke Collins, J.D., no longer.

It had a somewhat nice ring to it, but not in the same way Clarke Griffin did. Her grandfather’s name made her feel strong. Empowered. After a while, Clarke Collins made her despise saying anything that started with a C., now she would have to get used to hearing her actual name being said.

Once the stop at McDonald’s was made Clarke sat in the back seat heating her burger as she continued to run through everything that needed to be done. The firm she was to walk into that following Monday was substantially larger than the one she left, but they were the ones to seek her out which made it even more daunting.

A year ago, she never would have expected her life to take the turn it did or for her to be sitting in a car heading to a new place—a new _apartment_ —but she was. She had everything finalized and planned and all that was left was for her to actually start her new job.

Maybe if she ever got a chance to sit down with Marcus Kane she would ask him why he chose her. What was it that she did to make her stick out so that a firm as big as his would reach out to her with a job offer. She was the D.A. for the 19th Judicial District, but there were easily a hundred other D.A.’s throughout her state. Not this state.

Before Clarke could even get through what she would wear come Monday, Niles pulled up in front of her apartment complex and entered the gate code that she attached to her reservation for the car, and then he drove through the opening gates. The apartment complex was certainly larger than the one she and Finn previously lived in, but that was to be expected with the city she was in.

Niles then helped her bring her bags to her room and she tipped him before waving bye. Once the door to her apartment was closed Clarke turned and sagged against it, the McDonald’s bag in her hand crinkling.

 _Well,_ she thought, opening her eyes to look into her new place, _there’s no place like home_.

She had it furnished before she even moved in, deciding that Finn could decide what to do with all of the furniture they bought together, and looking around she was glad she did. Everything inside of her apartment looked great, and she made a mental note to message the apartment complex’s manager and her interior designer to say thank you.

She threw the empty McDonald’s bag away and then lugged all of her bags into her bedroom and looked around. Her bed was made, her T.V. was set up, and there was already a bath robe waiting for her on her closet door. Smiling a little to herself, Clarke pulled out her phone and called her mom while she began putting away her clothes.

“Hey, honey,” her mom’s voice came through the speakers, “how is the apartment?”

“Wonderful. The lady is a miracle worker.”

“I would hope so, given her ratings. How was the flight?”

“The usual. Slower than I would have liked and—”

“Filled with paperwork?”

“You could say that.” Clarke held up a dark blue, off-the-shoulder shirt and looked at it, then placed it off to the side on top of her dresser. “I think I’m going to go sight seeing tomorrow.”

“Are you sure you don’t have work you need to do?” Clarke could hear the teasing in her mom’s voice, and she rolled her eyes, knowing her mom couldn’t see her.

“It’s a new city. If I’m going to be working in it I might as well know how to actually get to work.”

“Are you nervous?”

“Maybe,” she sighed, then Clarke sat down on her bed and gave up and idea of unpacking while she talked to her mom.

**♠**

The next day, Clarke finished packing away all of her things—after sleeping until nearly two in the afternoon—and then she did what she told her mom she would do: she went sight-seeing. Of course, the sun was already down by the time she walked out of her apartment complex, but she had her keys in her pocket along with some pepper spray and she shared her location with Maya.

Clarke wasn’t sure what she wanted to get out of her walk but she figured it would be nice to get out for a bit and see the city she was living in. The buildings were still close together, though a quick google check told her that she would have to walk a bit before she reached any restaurants or bars, but it wasn’t bad. Her apartment was in a better part of town than hers and Finn’s had been in and there were no reports of burglaries or murders.

She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets as she walked, her hair fluttering around her from the slight breeze that made its way through the buildings, and she looked around. A few blocks from her apartment complex and the buildings got a little smaller. She was able to hear music coming from the inside of some of them and others were filled with people dining.

 _Definitely better than back home_.

She passed by a few more restaurants and bars, but she didn’t stop in any of them. She didn’t go out so she could get drunk or anything, even though the idea of slipping into one of the bars and getting a single drink did sound appealing. Even though she’s still in what would be considered uptown Arkadia, her office was on the other side of it. And seeing as how this was her first full day in the city, no one would know who she is.

_Until I get put in the newspaper._

The thought didn’t comfort her, in fact, it created a pit in her stomach and Clarke took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She didn’t like being in the paper, or that one time she was on the news. She preferred to stay out of the eye of the media—not like she ever had a say in it when she was younger. Her grandfather, her dad’s dad, was renowned for his accomplishments as a lawyer and it thrust Clarke into the media more than once. Especially when she was with her grandfather anytime some reporter came up to talk to him.

Thinking about the future is what ultimately drove Clarke into _The Ring_ , but when she got inside she realized that it didn’t seem like a _normal_ bar. The wood was dark and the smell of cigar smoke hung in the air, the yellow lights shining down on old liquor cabinets on the wall behind the bar and the bartenders that were dressed as thought they just stepped out of the 1920s. It looked like a speakeasy.

She tried not to inhale too much smoke as she made her way through the people and found an empty stool at the other end of the bar and waited for the bartender to notice her. The place wasn’t as packed as she expected, especially given that it was a Saturday night, but, then again, she didn’t remember the last time she was in a bar.

When the bartender comes up to her she order a whiskey neat and tries not to make a face as it goes down. It was something she tried getting used to once she got her job at the firm, seeing as all of the men that she worked with were fond of their straight liquors, and Anya was the same. The alcohol didn’t burn as much as she remembered, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

_What am I doing here?_

The realization that she was in a bar, by herself, in a new city that she didn’t know hit her like a tidal wave. _I should go home_. What good was sitting in a bar doing her? She had things she could be doing, paperwork to go over, various routes to work to figure out in case she ran into traffic. There was _no reason_ for her to be there.

The sound of a large wooden door being opened caught Clarke’s attention and out of the corner of her eye she could see that it led to another room in the back. When she turned, it didn’t look like a normal staff room, or even a storage room. It was lined in more of the dark wood that covered the main bar area and off to the side she could just catch the edge of a table that had a couple of men sitting around it.

The man she could see the best was sitting in a high backed leather chair with a white button-up shirt on with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and his fingers held something against the table. Something small and—

_Are they playing poker?_

Gambling was illegal in a lot of places and while it could be played in some clubs, Clarke knew that the rules were very strict. For the most part, unless you were in the privacy of your own home or in a casino, you shouldn’t have been playing.

She watched as the dark-haired guy smiled at something, his skin a deep golden color from the yellow lights around him, and then he picked up a glass. His eyes turned from whoever he was looking at and towards Clarke—well, it _seemed_ like he was looking at her.

His eyes stayed on her until the door swung shut, and she was left staring down a dark hallway.

The bartender came back and poured Clarke another shot, which she tried to drink as fast as she could and paid for her two drinks. She thought about how long she must have been walking to get to the bar and then she wondered how quickly she could get back home when she actually _wanted_ to get home.

Clarke pulled out her phone and put in her apartment’s address, then her eyes widened as she realized that she walked for nearly an hour without realizing it. _Forty-five minutes there and forty-five back?_ _What was I thinking?_ She sighed, staring at the map in front of her.

“Leaving so soon?” A deep voice asked from beside her, and Clarke jumped in her seat enough to almost send her falling off the back.

The guy’s hand came out and held onto her arm, helping her move back into the center of the stool. Looking at him, she knew he was the guy she saw in the back room and cursed herself silently for even looking at him. _Of course, he took that as an invitation to come talk to me_.

“Wasn’t really out for a drink,” she said flatly, then looked from his face to where his hand was still resting on her arm.

He took it away, shoving it into the pockets of his black suit pants. “Then, what _were_ you out for?”

His brown eyes danced as he looked down at her and Clarke knew that if she were to stand it wouldn’t be any better. He was taller than her by at least a foot, and she already had to tilt her head back to look at him so she didn’t want to have to do that more, but she also didn’t want to sit there when she should be getting to the door.

“A walk.”

She took out her wallet and placed a couple of bills on the counter and placed her glass over it, then she stood. Her guess had been right, the guy in front of her _was_ at least a head taller than her and they were so close that she could nearly feel her head resting against her shoulders as she looked up at him.

 _Does he not know personal space?_ He smelled like cigars and expensive cologne, but not to the point of it being overpowering. In fact, he smelled like something else. Like pine and wood smoke and…outdoors. It was a strange combination, especially given that they were in the middle of a very large city, but Clarke didn’t dwell on it as she moved to step around him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go walk some more.”

The guy stepped to the side slightly, blocking Clarke’s path, and she raised an eyebrow up at him. “Excuse me,” she bit out, and after a moment of the two of them looking at each other—Clarke glaring and the guy just gazing at her—he moved out of her way and Clarke huffed as she began making her way towards the front door.

When she gets back outside she feels like she can breathe again, even though the air isn’t exactly _fresh_ , and then she doesn’t hesitate as she makes her way back towards her apartment. If she was in a better state of mind maybe she would have stayed, let the handsome guy buy her a drink, and maybe she would have gotten laid for the first time in a year.

But tonight wasn’t that night.

There was too much that she needed to do and she shouldn’t have let herself get so distracted anyway. Going for a walk didn’t mean going out to a bar and getting laid. It meant learning about the place she was going to be living for the next few years—possibly the rest of her life.

She stuffed her hands in her coat pockets, her left hand curled around her can of mace while her right held onto her keys. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that there was any other reason that the guy came to talk to her. Of course, there wasn’t. He was hot and she knew that she could have men eating out of her hand if she wanted it, and on any other night she would have gone for it, but—she shook her head.

 _I’m not here for that_.

The last thing she needed was get caught up in something that involved emotions. She was going to focus on her job and making another life for herself in Arkadia, not tying herself up with some random stranger. _Though, the stress relief would be amazing…_

Her entire walk back to her apartment Clarke thought about how good it would be to actually get laid, rather than using her hand or her vibrator, and though she knew that looks weren’t everything—the guy in the bar seemed like he might have known a thing or two.

When she got into her place she locked the door and shrugged off her jacket, throwing it onto the back of the couch, and then she padded her way into the bathroom and started a shower. The sun was completely gone now and her feet were aching and she had a headache from the two shots she had. _I’ll just do sightseeing from the back of a car from now on._

The water was blessedly hot and steaming and the feeling of her peppermint shampoo left her scalp tingling even as she got out of the shower. She dried off and changed into pajamas, then painted her toenails and ordered take out and wrapped herself in a large fluffy blanket on her couch.

She flipped through the movie channels she had and chose _Sherlock Holmes_ before grabbing her paperwork for work and reading through it while she waited for her dinner to be delivered. She also texted Maya to let her know that she was back at her apartment and that she would see her on Monday.

Overall, her first day in her new place was relatively boring, seeing as she didn’t have to move furniture herself or have that much to put up really. It’s the laziest day she’s had what feels like a very long time.

 _Like a year_.

When she got a call from the voice box that opens the gates she pressed the pound sign and heard the gates buzz open, then she made her way downstairs once he was tipped she went back upstairs and curled back up on the couch after, her Styrofoam box sitting in her lap as she picked up her burger.

 _Well, welcome home_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...thoughts? comments? ideas? anything you want to see come from this fic? I love hearing from you!
> 
> I hope you liked it!  
> Xx

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos give me life <3
> 
> You can find me on...  
> Tumblr: xxawalkinwonderlandxx  
> Twitter: awalknwonderlnd


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